Local level political and social structure : the literature in English

Section I overviews themes and settings. It identifies four major themes in the literature (lineage, intermediaries, the social contract, and moral authority). It also discusses: the myth of the Egyptian peasant; political, economic and social change in Egypt since 1952; recent trends (the economic crisis and cultural politics); and political parties at the national and local level. Section II examines social groups exercising power at the local level -- the importance of family and lineage, corporate groups, local government workers, religious leaders and religious organizations, and women and the local power structure. Section III reviews rural local politics -- rural elites, the formal structure of local administration, the village council, cooperatives, dispute settlement, self-help projects, rural development projects, and the contrasts between land reform and non-land reform villages, new lands and old lands, and upper and lower Egypt. This is followed in Section IV by a discussion of urban local politics -- social contrasts in urban neighborhoods, inner popular neighborhoods, the urban fringes of Cairo, PVOs in the cities, and themes in urban politics. Section V looks at some unexplored areas -- the roles of education, migration, and the media; the reaction of local groups to government policy; and an analysis of which groups benefit from foreign aid. (Author abstract, modified)